Kofi Kingston: The Awakening Of True Star

Kofi Kingston debuted in the WWE on ECW in December 2007 and has become a top flight superstar ever since. Kofi had his first Wrestlemania appearance only three months after debuting in the WWE. It was a 24 man Battle Royal, but Kofi was eliminated early in the match by a then heel, Mark Henry.

Kofi was undefeated on ECW in singles competition until May 20th, 2008 when he was defeated by Shelton Benjamin. Kingston would however get the last laugh when he defeated Benjamin on June 24th in an Extreme Rules match.

This would be Kingston's last match on ECW because that following weekend he was drafted to Raw in the supplemental draft. Following in the footsteps of John Cena and Randy Orton, Kingston impressed the creative team enough to deserve a move to the WWE's flagship show.

Kingston's first match as a Raw superstar took place the day after he was drafted, when he took on Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title at Night of Champions. Kingston found himself holding the gold before he even took his first step on a Raw stage. Shawn Michaels had Jericho distracted to enhance their storyline, but the fact the WWE felt confident enough to let Kingston hold the IC title this early in his career shows the confidence they held in him.

Kofi Kingston would hold the title for three months, until he dropped it to Santino Marella in a mixed tag match where Mickie James also lost her title to Beth Phoenix. Glamarella had more momentum and putting the titles on them was the right decision for the timing.

Kingston wasn't going to be missing on a PPV though, because he showed up at Unforgiven in the aid of CM Punk after he was punted in the skull by a sidelined Randy Orton. CM Punk wouldn't be involved in the title match and wasn't able to defend his title.

But in the coming weeks, CM Punk and Kofi began to form a formidable tag team. On October 27th, 2008, the two partners would defeat Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes to gain the World Tag Team Championships. In his four months on Raw, Kofi had successfully won both the Intercontinental Title and the Tag Titles.

Kingston and Punk would eventually drop the titles to the Dirt Sheet Duo, Miz and Morrison, at a live show on December 13th, 2008.

Kingston was good and was beginning to become one of the most popular wrestlers the WWE had to offer. That February, Kofi Kingston defeated Kane, surprisingly taking a spot in the World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber Match at No Way Out.

Unfortunately, Kingston never made it into the match thanks to an ambush from Edge, who had lost his title already that night. Kingston had the skill in the ring to be in the match, but he never had enough mic skills to really make a difference in the ring.

Kingston would push on, but with a little less momentum then what he had going into No Way Out. But, the Raw creative team gave Kofi another jolt by having him defeat Jericho for a second time. His victory earned him a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 25.

The high flyer showed capitalized on his chance to showcase his ability on the grandest stage of them all. Kofi pulled out all of the stops and made himself known as one of the prominent wrestlers in the WWE. The Jamaican sensation even had the athletic ability to run up a standing, closed ladder held up by Mark Henry.

However, the writers didn't have a real storyline for Kingston and he was forced to wrestle the mid-card for the next three months. It wasn't until late May 2009, did Kingston find a way back into a title mix and on June 1st, he would find himself in the gold once again. Kingston defeated MVP for the United States title and had his shot at glory once again.

The WWE creative team decided to have Kofi attempt to cut a few promos during the title run. But, that was stopped quickly when Kofi's Jamaican accent couldn't pass as real. Kofi wasn't actually born in Jamaica, he was born in Ghana. It was a lot easier to sell someone from Jamaica than someone from Ghana. Despite his inability to run promos, Kofi defended his title for four months and on four different pay per views until the Miz beat Kofi on October 5th 2009.

The next week, Kofi defeated Evan Bourne and gained a spot on team Raw for Bragging Rights. Quietly, Kofi was billed from Ghana, West Africa in this match as opposed to Jamaica. The October 19th edition of Raw introduced a new Kofi and successfully put away with his Jamaican accent. The reasoning behind his Jamaican past was that he was paying tribute to a culture that he loved.

At Bragging Rights, Kofi was pinned by Jericho thanks to a chokeslam from his own teammate, Big Show. After the match, Kofi was backstage when he had a run in with Legacy's Cody Rhodes. Rhodes went on to blame Kofi for the loss and throw him into a wall.

During the Iron Man Match between Cena and Orton, both members of Legacy came out and attacked John Cena. In retaliation to Rhodes' attack, Kingston would save John Cena from defeat by chasing Legacy out of the ring and backstage with a steel chair.

This Monday's Raw finally showed the new and improved Kofi to his fullest extent. Kofi defeated Chris Jericho to start off the night, but was attacked while leaving the stage by Randy Orton. Orton would later state that he wasn't anywhere near done with Kingston.

After Legacy's loss to MVP and Mark Henry later in the night, Orton came out and began to talk about how he deserved a rematch against Cena despite the match's stipulations. Before Orton could finish is rant, he was interrupted by Kofi who was ready to give his first full promo. After a back and forth argument, Kofi would go on to slowly destroy Randy Orton's stock car. The stock car was a present from DiBiase and Rhodes that lasted all but 30 minutes.

Kofi's sounded confident and in-charge in his first real promo. It's obvious that he has talent in the ring, but if he can show talent with the microphone who knows what Kofi can become. The impending rivalry with Orton and company will make or break Kofi's career in the WWE. Considering his career so far, Kofi will probably come out on top and the only question will then be: What's next for the SOS?